


Hero

by babywarg (morphaileffect)



Category: Captain Marvel (2019), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Short, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-16
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-11-19 05:26:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18131534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morphaileffect/pseuds/babywarg
Summary: Carol Danvers has to help Tony Stark test the quantum suits he's making. But for their work to progress, some awkwardness between them needs to be addressed.





	Hero

**Author's Note:**

> I know nothing of what’s going to happen in Endgame, so this is probably going to be WAY off-base. 
> 
> Gen, no pairings, no warnings - although could be Carol x Tony (or hey Carol x Natasha!) if you squint.
> 
> Operates within a few (mostly baseless) presumptions, i.e.: Carol was 29 when she disappeared in 1989, and Tony was 19. Also, that Carol was a well-documented all-around overachiever before she disappeared. Also, that Tony builds the quantum suits and asks for her help to test them xD
> 
> Inspired by [this beautiful sketch](http://laisocasblog.tumblr.com/post/183472172377) by laisocasblog.

[Art by laisocasblog on Tumblr](https://laisocasblog.tumblr.com/post/183472172377/what-would-happen-if-black-widow-presented-carol)

For Carol, Tony Stark's invitation for her to come down to his lab so she could help him test the final quantum suit designs was strictly a professional one.

But Natasha Romanoff just had to say something that _wasn't_ professional.

"Don't worry, he won't bite. He likes you."

Carol looked at the Avenger steadily. She got along well with Natasha, and knew that she had uncanny insight into how other people ticked.

"It's not my problem if he doesn't," she matter-of-factly replied. "For the record, though, how can you tell? He's been cold toward me since we met."

Natasha shrugged. "That's just how Tony is - a bit standoffish when he meets people he likes for the first time." She smirked. "You should've seen him when he first met Steve Rogers."

Carol didn't know what to make of that. She didn't know either Tony Stark or Steve Rogers well, and her brief interactions with them didn't give her a clear enough understanding of the nature of their relationship.

"Trust me, they're good friends now. Steve is just...a special case," Natasha vaguely said. "Once Tony's comfortable with you, he ends up being...warm. To the point of annoying."

"Mm," Carol remarked. "I guess I shouldn't make him too comfortable, then."

Natasha chuckled.

"He may actually welcome that," she pointed out. "Give him a bit of a challenge."

 

***

 

"...So I'm going to increase the tension on the thoracic frames. The instruments tell me they should hold under this much pressure okay, but let me know if you detect any yield."

Carol didn't respond. So far, helping Stark test the suits had felt like Stark was speaking more AT her than TO her.

The air was thick between them, and it felt almost hostile.

And a little insulting.

"Stark?"

"Yeah?" he muttered at the controls he was fiddling with.

"Do you have a problem with me?"

Abruptly, all fiddling stopped.

"No." He turned to face her, folded his arms across his chest. "No, I don't have a prob -- why would you think I have a problem? With you?"

"I noticed you don't look me in the eye."

This made Stark fidget. It didn't escape Carol's attention.

"Maybe I’m not being my usual effusive, cuddly self," he admitted. "But I guess this is just how I am with beautiful, self-confident women who can break my skull just by tapping my forehead once."

If that was an attempt at flirting, Carol noted, it fell flat on its face.

"I intimidate you? Is that it?"

"No," Stark said quickly. "Look...I think what you're saying is that I'm acting in a way that makes you uncomfortable. I'm sorry about that. It's just..."

He waved his hands in the air for a bit, at a loss for words. Then he accepted defeat, threw his hands up, and let them fall limp to his sides.

"...okay. I'm not sure I understand it completely myself? I haven't exactly had much time to examine my own behaviors and motivations, in case you've noticed. But I'm going to give it a try."

"I appreciate it, Stark," Carol answered curtly. "I don't want there to be any awkwardness between us. We have much bigger things on our plate. If there's anything for us to resolve, we should get to it now."

"You're right." He might as well have said _Yeah, right_ with how low the volume of his voice was, but Carol wasn't about to make a big deal of it.

If he was going to be petulant, she was going to walk out: plain and simple.

"When my dad was still alive," Stark began, "we worked closely with US military. For decades. Bread and butter of Stark Industries, all that crap."

Carol had very few memories of her past on Earth, but she learned in some of her recent readings that Stark Industries, headed by eccentric inventor Howard Stark, was the military's primary tech supplier post-World War II, up until the early 2000's, when his son and heir Tony Stark unequivocally terminated this partnership.

This meant the Starks’ company made many things for the US Army - from weapons to experimental gear.

"As such, we had access to profiles of key Army personalities - sometimes, so we could customize vehicles and weapons according to their unique physical and mental capabilities."

He took a deep breath before continuing. It seemed as if talking about Stark Industries' warmongering past was an ordeal for him - one he was handling as bravely as he could.

"So, once upon a time, we were contracted to develop space-age fighter planes. Curiously, the pilots who qualified to fly our cutting-edge prototypes were all women. I wanted to know more about them, so I pulled up their profiles. Mind you, I was a teenager at the time, so hormones probably played some part in it..."

He cleared his throat. Carol squinted. She seriously hoped he wasn't going where she thought he was going with this.

"...but anyway, that was how I learned about you. And I was fascinated with you. Not in a sexual way, okay, even if I said 'hormones' earlier. How do I say this..."

He scratched the back of his head, almost shyly.

"You were ahead of your time," he said simply. "All of you in the fleet were...but you, especially, Ms. Danvers, had a remarkable drive to excel. Like you always had something to aim for. After attaining one goal, you reached for something higher.

"Your accomplishments - as a kid, as a student, as a cadet, as a woman advancing the causes of women - they were...inspirational to me. I knew - I was _sure_ \- that you were destined for great things, and that you were going to pull the rest of humanity up with you.

“So I guess what I am now is actually _nervous as hell_. But it’s coming out as coldness, which I definitely never intended. It’s just that I really don’t have the time or energy to gush all over you _now_ given that we’re on a strict schedule for saving the universe, but I _really want to_...so maybe what’s really going on is, holding back the things I want to say to you makes them all come out wrong."

Carol simply stared at Stark as he spoke. It was...surreal, to discover that he might actually know more about her past than she did. Than anyone else did, apart from the people who actually knew her before her abduction by the Kree.

And that he actually _admired_ her. That all this glowing praise, so sincerely delivered, was directed at _her_.

"I could've asked my dad for an introduction," Stark disclosed. "But guess what? I got shy. And guess what again - you disappeared. And soon after that, my parents died. So even if I were actually _serious_ about wanting an introduction with you, I never got the chance.

"You were gone, and my parents were gone, and all of a sudden I was young, and all alone, and out of people to look up to."

After saying that last part, his face fell and he became gravely silent - as if he'd caught himself saying something he shouldn't have.

He turned away, started fiddling with the panel again.

"Steve Rogers was my dad's hero," he said without turning. "You were mine."

He fell silent as he concentrated on his work, and Carol took the opportunity to absorb the new information she was given.

There must have been some truth to what Natasha Romanoff said: Stark _did_ like her. Or, at least, the Carol Danvers that he knew from an old military profile.

Presently, Stark faced her again, with a determined sigh.

"Is that answer satisfactory, Ms. Danvers?" he asked brightly. "My head's a bit light from all the coffee, zero food and three power naps in lieu of actual sleep over the last 38 hours, so I really can't tell, but I do hope that cleared the air a bit, so we can proceed with testing..."

"Carol."

Stark blinked at the interruption. "Huh?"

"Call me Carol." She smiled. "The point of talking was to get rid of all the awkwardness, right? So enough with the formalities, Tony."

It seemed as if her smile stunned him. For a few seconds he stood very still, unsure of what to do with himself.

Then he relaxed, just as she hoped.

"Okay." He smiled back. "It's good to finally meet you, Carol."


End file.
